


together, in the end

by youbetsya



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: (I'm pretty cynical), Angst with a Happy Ending, Feelings Realization, I guess???, Idiots in Love, Jealousy, M/M, but primarily it's just a very long meme, depending on how cynical you are, eddie is especially dumb in this fic (it's the repression), kind of a spec fic for 4x06/4x07, no beta we die like buck almost did 800 times in buck begins, or a pre-emptive fix-it fic for 4x06/4x07
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-18 05:48:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29484729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/youbetsya/pseuds/youbetsya
Summary: Evan Buckley was not a jealous person.If Eddie was going to “put himself back out there”, then Buck could too. He had no claim to Eddie, and Eddie had no claim to him. Eddie was making that perfectly clear. Buck was just following his lead.Eddie Diaz was not a paranoid person.But what the hell was that about?
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Comments: 34
Kudos: 392





	together, in the end

**Author's Note:**

> Basically the writers keep writing parallel plotlines for these dumbasses and I thought it would be funny to try to one up them. I don't... know what happened here. But I had fun writing it!

Evan Buckley was not a jealous person. 

Did he have jealous moments? Of course. Had his preschool teachers informed his parents on multiple occasions that “Evan has great difficulty regulating his behavior when attention is not focused on him”? Sure. Did he get a monstrous, white-hot feeling in his chest the moment Eddie said that he was going out on a date? Absolutely. But he wasn’t jealous. He was just… protective. Of his people, of his time with them. He could be — he _was —_ happy for Eddie and still be annoyed that he was skipping their long-standing Buckley-Diaz Friday night video game and pizza party. Two weeks after Buck had almost died in a five-alarm fire. And during a fucking pandemic. Actually, what the _fuck_ was Eddie thinking? 

“Who’s the date with?” Buck asked, not-at-all jealously stabbing his fork into his salad and not-at-all jealously avoiding eye contact with Eddie. 

“You know Chris’s English teacher last year?” 

Buck looked up at Eddie with raised eyebrows. He had to be fucking joking. “Ana? The teacher you yelled at for almost getting your kid killed? That teacher?”

Eddie laughed. Buck didn’t see what was funny. 

“Yeah, her. She asked me out and…” He shrugged. “I don’t know. She’s cute, Chris loves her. I have to put myself back out there sometime, right?” 

And Buck did not reply _Well_ I’m _cute and Chris loves_ me _, but you’re still ditching me to hang out with her_. Because that would have been the reply of a deeply jealous human being. Which he was not. Instead he grumbled, “I guess,” and went back to stabbing his salad. 

“Is there a problem here, Buck?” Eddie asked. “Do you have something against Ana?”

“I’ve never met her, how could I have a problem with her.” Stab, stab, stab.

“If it’s the Friday thing, I could reschedule with her. I didn’t think it would be a big deal.” 

Buck inhaled sharply. _Clearly it’s not a big deal to_ you _._ He met Eddie’s eyes and offered the best, not-at-all-jealous smile he could muster. “No, man. There’s no problem. I’m happy for you.” He clapped his hand against Eddie’s shoulder, as not-at-all-jealous bros do, rose from the couch, and immediately took out his phone to re-download Tinder. 

Evan Buckley was _not_ a jealous person. If Eddie was going to “put himself back out there”, then Buck could too. He had no claim to Eddie, and Eddie had no claim to him. Eddie was making that perfectly clear. Buck was just following his lead. 

—————————————————————————

Eddie Diaz was not a paranoid person.

Sure, there had been the whole coffee-maker thing a few weeks ago. But really, that was Buck’s fault for pranking him. Anyway, he’d done his research and found a shocking number of lawsuits against the manufacturers of Hildy for illegally selling consumer information. And maybe when Chris had fallen off that skateboard he had immediately assumed that the other kids were picking on him and the teachers had just let it slide. Maybe he’d already been looking into finding a new school for Chris before Chris told him it had been his idea. He was just… cautious. He guarded his feelings, guarded his family. Keeping people safe was his job, and it was always better to be safe than sorry. But generally, Eddie was a reasonable human being, who had a good sense of a proportional reaction to a given situation. And Buck was definitely acting weird. 

Ever since Eddie had told him he couldn’t come over on Friday because he was going out for drinks with Ana, Buck had been distant and avoidant. Granted it had only been about six hours. But he knew Buck pretty well, and something was definitely off. He was barely talking to Eddie, mostly only replying if Eddie said something first, and even then his responses were brief and almost… professional. Buck may have been the best firefighter Eddie knew, but he was anything but professional. Really, the whole 118 tended to be anything but professional. 

When Eddie asked Hen and Chim, they gave him a weird look and said they didn’t notice anything strange about Buck’s behavior. Or, well, Chimney did. Hen just laughed, which Eddie took to mean the same thing. But that didn’t mean Eddie was being paranoid. Maybe they just didn’t pay as much attention to Buck’s weird antics as Eddie did. 

As they were walking to their cars, side by side but several feet apart (which was unusual for them even during the pandemic), Buck’s attention was solely devoted to his phone. Fighting against an instinct to just shove the whole thing under the rug and hope for the best, Eddie tried to get Buck to talk. “Look, Buck, I was serious about Friday. If it’s that important to you, I’m happy to reschedule.” 

Buck laughed at something on his phone, apparently ignoring Eddie, which stung more than Eddie cared to admit. A second later, Buck looked up, more cheerful now than he’d been all day. “Oh, Friday? Don’t worry about it. I can watch Chris if you need a sitter, though!” 

Which only made Eddie more confused. But what was he gonna do, pass up a free babysitter just because Buck was acting strange? That was something someone would do if they were being paranoid. And Eddie was not being paranoid. “Sure, sure. That’d be great.” 

Buck grinned and bumped his elbow against Eddie’s. “Great! I’ll be there.” He turned in the direction of his car and did that little skip-hop thing he did when he was in a good mood. So Buck was pissy with him all day, but now that they were leaving work, he was laughing and smiling and skipping around? Yeah, super normal behavior, Hen and Chim. 

“Oh,” Buck pivoted on his heel to face Eddie again. “But just so you know, if you need a sitter on Sunday I won’t be available. I’ve got a date.” Then he _winked_ , and proceeded to his car.

Eddie Diaz was _not_ a paranoid person.

But what the hell was that about?

—————————————————————————

“What the hell is this about?” Maddie had barely opened the door before she was shoving her phone in Buck’s face. Way too close for him to even see what she was so upset about. 

He (very gently, because he loved his sister, and she was with child) swatted Maddie’s arm away. “Good afternoon to you too, my beautiful sister, whom I love.” Squeezing through the doorway past her baby-Buckley-sized belly, Buck kissed his fingers and pressed them briefly against the baby bump. “And my beautiful niece, whom I love!” 

Maddie just glared at him. Rude. “Evan Buckley. Your _boyfriend_ has texted me seventeen times in the past hour. He thinks you’ve either lost your mind or you hate him. Or both.” 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Buck replied. Which was a lie. “I don’t have a boyfriend.” Which was true. 

She rolled her eyes. “Okay, the guy who you practically live with, and co-parent a child with, and are in love with. Boyfriend is common shorthand for that type of relationship.” 

Great. They were having this conversation again. Buck tried, and probably failed, to will the redness from his cheeks. “I’m not in love with Eddie,” He said. Which was… maybe somewhere between a lie and the truth. Definitely not one or the other. Like, sure, he got a fluttery, twisty feeling in his stomach whenever Eddie smiled at him. And he wanted to spend all of his time with Eddie. And maybe he thought about Eddie’s muscles, like, a _little_ more than the average person might think about their best friend’s muscles. And he’d definitely had… well, more than one dream where he was living with Eddie, and Chris called them both “Dad”, and he and Eddie both had rings on their left hands and slept in the same bed. And did other things in the same bed. But so what? None of that meant he was _in love_ with Eddie. Anyway, Eddie had never given any indication that he was anything other than straight, so it didn’t really matter if Buck was in love with Eddie or not.

Maddie cleared her throat, and Buck realized he’d been totally zoned out, staring intently at a fleck on the countertop. Normal things. Just normal, not-at-all-in-love-with-your-best-friend things. He blinked and looked up at Maddie, who was still glaring at him. “I’m not!”

“Whatever you say,” She replied. Something told Buck she didn’t believe him. “Can I have my ice cream, please?” 

Since Maddie had gotten pregnant she had _very_ specific ice cream cravings, and she and Buck had been having ice-cream dates — at first over Zoom, now in person — once a week for months. Today’s request was “anything with cinnamon and chocolate”, last week’s had been cookie dough from a particular cafe downtown that was only open on weekdays between noon and 3 pm. Wordlessly, Buck handed over her container and opened his own. 

“What _is_ going on with you and Eddie?” Maddie’s words were formed around a spoonful of ice cream.

“Uh.” Now he had to figure out a way to describe the situation without sounding like a jealous… whatever. Friend. Not that he was jealous! He just didn’t want to come across that way. Because he wasn’t. “Nothing, really. He’s going on a date with the teacher Chris had last year. Which I personally think is a little weird, but it’s whatever. And I’ve got a date this weekend too, now. So, you know. It’s fine.” 

Annoyingly, Maddie seemed unconvinced. She cocked her head. “So, if you didn’t also have a date… it wouldn’t be fine?” 

“No, I— you’re twisting my words. I didn’t mean it like that. I’m happy for him.” Buck stabbed his spoon into his ice cream. A lot of stabbing going on today. No correlation to the Eddie thing. Just a stabby day. 

“He doesn’t think so. He thinks you’re acting weird. I know because he texted me _seventeen times._ ” 

“I’m not acting weird!” Buck flung his hands up in exasperation. Unfortunately, he had forgotten about the glob of ice cream on the spoon, and it flew across the room, landing with a cartoonish splat on the tiled kitchen floor. Gravity was so rarely his friend. He smiled apologetically at Maddie, who hadn’t even flinched. 

“Paper towels are by the sink.” She said, taking another bite.

“I know where the paper towels are.”

—————————————————————————

“The paper towels are in the bathroom, kiddo,” Eddie reminded Chris, who was cleaning up a science project that involved… something sticky all over his kitchen table, before returning to the phone call that had interrupted him the second he had walked through the door. “Look, Karen, I don’t know what you want me to say. I have no idea why he’s acting like this.”

“Really?” Karen’s voice sounded from the other end. He heard Hen laughing in the background. “You can’t think of _any_ reason why Buck would be upset about you going on a date with someone else?”

“Someone _else_ ? Now _you_ sound crazy — is this what they mean by COVID-brain? Am I next?” Eddie joked. Her words made something deep in his brain itch in a way he wasn’t totally comfortable with. Maybe he would be able to understand what she was implying if he wasn’t also trying to help Chris clean up, thinking about what they would do for dinner, and concentrating on holding his phone between his shoulder and his ear. But something about that itch told him that whatever it was, he didn’t have the time or energy to deal with it anyway.

“Are you actually dumb? Is he actually dumb?” The second question was directed away from the phone, presumably at Hen. 

“Hen, if you answer that I will file a harassment report with HR.” Both women burst out laughing. What was everyone’s deal? It was one date. It was barely even a date. It was drinks. “I’m hanging up now. I have a life and a kid and things to do. Love you guys, but you’re giving me a headache.” 

Hen chimed in, “Just think about it, Eddie. You’re a smart guy.” 

Karen added, “Yeah, think _long_ and _hard_ about Buck and his—” Their voices dissolved into giggles. Really, it was embarrassing. They were all adults. Eddie hung up the phone before they could say anything else that would set off that weird itch in his brain. 

“Got ‘em,” Chris said, carrying a handful of paper towels with him from the bathroom. 

“Thanks, buddy.” Eddie took the paper towels and went to town on the unidentifiable substance that was seeping into the wood of the table. 

“Who were you talking to?” Chris took a seat at the table, apparently prepared to watch Eddie clean up the mess himself.

“Karen and Hen. Now, I know you know how to use these paper towels too.” Eddie said, holding out half of the paper towels to Chris, who huffed, but complied. “Much appreciated.” 

“What were you talking about?” Chris asked. “You sounded mad.” 

Nothing got past this kid. It was like living with a mind reader. Eddie sighed. “Nah, I’m not mad. Just…” He wanted to say _grown-up stuff,_ but Chris absolutely hated that phrase. Not that Eddie could blame him — it was a major cop-out. Still, he couldn’t exactly explain to his kid that one of his favorite people was pissed at his dad for going on a date with one of his favorite teachers. Especially because he knew Chris would ask him why Buck was mad, and he still had zero clue. “What all did you hear?” 

“Something about Buck. And something about a date.” Chris’s eyes lit up. “Are you and Buck going on a date?” 

For some reason, that question felt like a punch in the stomach. Maybe it was the excitement in Chris’s voice as he asked it. Of course he would want his two favorite grown-ups to go on a date together. He was a kid; he probably thought a date meant Buck coming over to play video games with both of them. Eddie forced a laugh. “No, we’re not going on a date.” 

Chris wrinkled his nose. “Boys can go on dates together, you know.” 

“True,” Eddie said, giving up on the spill for the moment and taking a seat. “But me and Buck are just friends.” Another punch in the stomach. Weird. Also, ouch. “And he’s your friend too, of course. He’s actually going to come hang out with you on Friday night while I’m out for a bit.”

“On a date?” Chris asked.

Eddie hesitated. He tried to never lie to Chris. It was hard sometimes. “Yes, on a date.” 

Chris didn’t say anything for a minute. Just continued wiping the table. Eddie thought the conversation might be over until he added, “Are you getting married?” 

Eddie couldn’t help but laugh. If only it were that easy. “No, buddy. For now, it’s really just two people hanging out, getting to know each other better.”

“I guess that’s okay, then. But I don’t get how it’s different than what you and Buck do.” 

Yet _another_ punch in the stomach. He’d have to take this kid to the ring sometime. 

“It… it just is, bud.” Another long pause followed.

“Grown-ups are so confusing.” 

—————————————————————————

“This is so confusing.” Chimney said, peering over Buck’s shoulder as he swiped through Tinder. “I don’t understand the etiquette.” 

“Haven’t you used dating apps before?” If Buck remembered correctly, Chimney’s dating life had been even more of a mess than his own before Maddie had taken pity on him. “Basically, if you both swipe right, then you match and you can message each other. Like, take this guy. If I swipe right on him, then—” 

“Guy?” Eddie piped up from his spot on the other couch. For some reason he seemed really surprised about something. Like, _really_ surprised. “Like, a guy on your Tinder? On purpose?” 

Oh, shit. Now _this_ was hysterical. 

“Eddie…” Buck said, struggling to bite back a smile. “Did you not know I was bisexual?” 

Eddie blinked. “Was I supposed to?” 

Buck made eye contact with Chimney and they both burst out laughing. How had Eddie known Buck for _three years_ and not put two and two together? Straight dudes. Perpetually oblivious. 

“This isn’t fucking funny!” Eddie complained. 

Buck took in gulps of air, momentarily calming down enough to say, “Eddie, Eddie. Last year, I hooked up with a guy in the bathroom while you were _in the same bar._ ” But then _that_ was so funny that he fell over on the couch in another fit of laughter. 

“I thought you guys were just, like. Hanging out. I don’t know.” Eddie, who wasn’t phased by much of anything, looked shell-shocked. It was the funniest thing Buck had ever seen. He couldn’t stop laughing. Had anyone ever actually laughed so hard they died?

“Hanging out!” Chimney howled. “Number one euphemism for gay sex!” 

“What’s going on?” Hen called out from the kitchen. 

“Eddie didn’t know I was bi!” Buck yelled back, the words punctuated with gasped breaths. Of course, Hen immediately broke down laughing too. Because she was a sensible human being, and this was _the funniest thing that had ever happened._

“Wait, _what_?” She cried. “How? Eddie, you’ve been to LA Pride with us. He got the flag painted on his face!” Oh god, Hen was right. Buck was actually going to piss himself. 

“Okay, I think I need some air,” Eddie muttered, standing up from the couch to leave. Under normal circumstances, one of them would have gone after him, or encouraged him to stay, but they were all too busy literally rolling around on the floor.

Eddie would have to deal with this one all on his own.

—————————————————————————

“I can’t believe you deal with it all on your own.” Ana said, resting her chin against her knuckles. “The single parent thing? It’s impressive.” 

They were sitting outside at a bar, the first bar Eddie had been to since March, and he was… less than comfortable with it. They were outside, sure, and the tables were all distanced. Everyone was required to wear masks until their drinks came. But now the drinks were here, the masks were off and alarm bells were going off in his head. It was like he could _see_ the disgusting, potentially fatal microbes flying out of everyone’s mouths as they spoke. He tried to focus on his date, who was pretty, and nice, and who his kid liked. It was harder than it should have been. 

“Yeah it’s tough sometimes. But I have my own village, you know? My abuela, my tía. Carla, you’ve met her, she’s amazing. And my crew at work help out a lot, especially Buck. Chris adores him. He’s babysitting right now, actually.” 

Since the Great Bisexuality Breakdown of 2020 the day before, every time Eddie thought about Buck (or talked to Buck, or looked at Buck) the itch in his brain went _crazy_ . It felt more like a buzz now, almost like the static that took over an old TV when you turned to a channel that you didn’t get. It was like Eddie knew… _something_. Something that was supposed to be obvious. But his brain wouldn’t actually let him access the thought. 

Ana smiled, oblivious to his bizarre, distracted musings. Hopefully. “Buck, he’s your friend who helped build Chris’s skateboard, right? Chris talked about him all the time.” 

“Yeah, he’s great.” Of course Chris talked about him all the time at school. He talked about him all the time at home, too. “He’s actually… I think he’s not thrilled that I’m dating again. I’m a little worried about him.” Eddie flinched at his own words. Why the hell was he telling Ana this? She hadn’t asked, and even if she had, it was absolutely none of her business. What happened to keeping your people and your feelings _safe_ , Diaz?

To Eddie’s surprise, Ana nodded knowingly. “It’s really common for kids to feel that way after they’ve lost a parent, no matter how long it’s been.” 

Huh? Oh. She thought he was talking about Christopher. Eddie laughed. Of course she thought he was talking about Christopher. That made a lot more sense than his grown-ass adult best friend throwing a fit about him dating. The look on Ana’s face reminded him that laughter was not an especially appropriate response to the mention of your child’s dead mother. 

He cleared his throat. “Sorry, I… Actually, I didn’t mean Chris. I meant my friend, Buck.”

Ana leaned back a bit in her chair. Away from Eddie. “Oh?”

“Yeah, he just...” How the fuck was he supposed to make this situation sound normal? Not that there was anything particularly abnormal about the situation. It was just hard to explain. “I think he’s just jealous. We spend a lot of time together, you know?”

She nodded hesitantly. “Sure, sure.” Christ. This was going off the rails. Eddie took a gulp of his beer. The conversation halted for several moments too long, and before he could think of a way to salvage it without sounding even more unhinged, Ana graciously changed the subject. “So, you grew up in Texas?” 

God bless this woman. It was Eddie’s first first-date since he was eighteen, and he had apparently forgotten how to hold a conversation with someone he was romantically interested in. He would have to send her a thank-you card and a gift basket no matter how this ended. Eddie nodded. “Yeah, El Paso. My parents still live out there. You?”

“I grew up here, actually. Burbank.” She took a sip of her cocktail.

“Oh yeah? You still have family here?”

She nodded, setting her drink back down. “Yeah, my parents, siblings, most of my mom’s family. They mean the world to me. I can’t imagine being so far away from them.” She reached across the table and grabbed his hand. Right. Flirting. That was a part of this. Experimentally, he curled his fingers around hers. He liked that it made her smile. She had a nice smile. 

“It’s not so bad.” Eddie said. “I mean, I just visited them when we were in Texas assisting with the wildfire containment out there.” 

“You were at the Texas wildfires? That must have been strange, working with unfamiliar crews like that.” Ana started tracing circles on Eddie’s palm with her thumb. It was bizarre, feeling this kind of soft, intimate touch. He really hadn’t been with anyone since Shannon. These days the closest he got to non-familial physical intimacy was… well, the whole 118, really. But Buck was especially touchy-feely. 

Eddie’s head was feeling fuzzy again.

“Eh, not too strange. People from my crew were there, too. Our best paramedic almost died in a helicopter crash, and Buck stole the keys to a firetruck to save her. Which was a dumb move, but—” 

“Oh, Buck was there too?” Ana remarked. Her tone was inscrutable, and her hand had gone limp in his. Christ, did Eddie always talk about Buck this much? 

“Well, yeah. We’re on the same crew.” He tried to laugh to ease the tension. Somehow it only seemed to give it an even more awkward edge.

“Right, of course.” 

_Buzz._ Eddie was capable of having a conversation that didn’t come back to Buck. _Buzz._ It’s not like Buck was always on his mind or anything. _Buzz._ They were close, but they had their own lives. Clearly Ana was already getting sick of hearing about him, and he couldn’t blame her. Eddie was getting sick of _thinking_ about him. _Buzz._ And he was sure as hell sick of this brain-static that had been near-constant since yesterday. 

“I’m sorry, I can tell I’m talking about him a lot. This is supposed to be about you and me, right? No third parties.” He smiled at her, and she reciprocated, relaxing into her seat a bit. And Eddie should’ve stopped there. Even in the moment, he knew he should’ve stopped there. But some part of his brain that apparently didn’t give a shit about critical thought — something told him it overlapped with the staticky part — kept talking, “I think he’s just on my mind because I found something out about him yesterday, and it’s fucking me up a little. Just because, I’m supposed to be his best friend, right? And I somehow missed this huge thing about him that everyone else knew. And it’s like, how am I just now figuring this out?” 

While he was speaking, Ana had pulled her hand out of his to take a long drink of her cocktail. Fair. Very fair. She chewed on her lip. “What… what was the thing you found out?” 

The fuzzy-adjacent part of his brain just would not let it rest. It was like he had no control over the words coming out of his mouth. Maybe someone had slipped something in his drink. “I mean, a couple weeks ago I found out he had a secret dead brother, which is a way bigger deal. But even he didn’t know about that. The thing that’s fucking me up a little is that apparently he’s bisexual, and everyone knew but me. Which is weird, right?” 

“Okay.” Ana set down her drink and started gathering her things. “I think I’m gonna go.”

Fuck. Of course she was leaving. Eddie sounded completely insane.

“I’m so sorry. I know I sound nuts right now, but it’s really nothing. I would love for you to stay and let me prove that I can act like a normal person.” He offered a sheepish smile. 

Ana returned his smile, but hers was almost pitying. Not the kind of smile you want to see on a first date. “Eddie, you’re sweet. And very sexy. You’re an amazing father, and you seem like a great person. I just think there’s something holding you back right now that you have to work through before you can be… available. And, honestly, I’ve wasted my time with too many unavailable guys.” 

“No, Ana. I promise, I’m ready for this. I _want_ this.” _Buzz._ What? Why was his brain feeling more fuzzy now? This had nothing to do with Buck.

“I believe you want this. I just think maybe you want it with… someone else.” She gave his arm a gentle squeeze and stood up from the table. “Goodnight, Eddie. Say hi to Buck for me.” 

And Eddie didn’t reply, even as she walked away. Which was rude, but it’s not that he didn’t want to. He just couldn’t. Because the staticky part of his brain had suddenly become HD.

He was such an asshole. 

—————————————————————————

“You’re such an asshole,” Buck’s date, Heather, giggled as he slowly twirled her around. Apparently she had never roller skated before, and watching her learn was like watching a baby deer learn to walk. Very cute. 

“Come on, you’re doing great! I just need to make it a little harder for you.” 

“It’s hard enough as is!” She exclaimed. For about the hundredth time, she stumbled and almost fell. Buck wrapped his arm around her waist to catch her, and she smiled at him, blushing. Everything was going exactly according to plan. This girl was hot, cool, smart, funny. She was laughing at his jokes and teasing him and kept touching his arm even when she didn’t have to, and she insisted on holding his hand the whole time they were skating. 

So why was he so… bored?

Maybe he was just distracted. Eddie had gotten in his head again (as if he had ever really left) when he came home way earlier than expected on Friday, barely looked at or spoke to Buck, and then left Buck’s handful of texts unanswered all day Saturday. Part of Buck (a small part!) was thrilled that his date had, apparently, not gone very well. Another part of him was irrationally worried that it had something to do with the bisexual meltdown. Mostly, though, he was just concerned about Eddie. And, okay, a little annoyed that Eddie was ignoring him. But who wouldn’t be a little annoyed about being ignored?

“Evan?” Heather was looking at him expectantly. Shit, he had been completely ignoring her. Buck tried not to flinch at the name. He should’ve just put “Buck” in his profile from the start. The geniuses at Tinder had made it so he would have to delete the whole account to change his name now. 

“Sorry, what?” 

“I was just wondering where in the park you wanted to stop for lunch.” 

Right, the picnic. Why did he have to be _so_ good at planning such fun, charming dates? If they had just gone for coffee or something he could have gone home to mope in peace sooner. None of that was Heather’s fault, though. And she was nice. And very hot. 

Buck plastered on a smile. “There’s a spot about half a mile up with a gorgeous view. Think you can make it that far? If not, I can always pull you the rest of the way.” He shifted his feet so he was skating backwards, holding both her hands to pull her along the path, and she laughed.

“I think I can make it. The break is nice, though.” Something about the way one corner of her mouth quirked up when she smiled reminded him of Eddie. He had to resist the urge to shake out his head to make the comparison go away. God, sometimes he just wished he could smack his thoughts away with a broom like rats. Heather added, “You know this park pretty well, do you come here a lot with your kid?”

His what?

“My what?” The comment almost threw him off balance. He looked over his shoulder to make sure no one was behind them, and found they were coming to the top of a hill. 

Heather tilted her head slightly. “Your kid. The kid all over your instagram. The one you built a skateboard for?”

“Wait, you mean Christopher?” Buck laughed. Why did everyone assume Chris was his kid? “No, he’s —” Buck’s skate caught on a rock, or a stick, or some other physical manifestation of his own hubris, and he pitched forward. Heather, who, bless her soul, had just started roller skating fifteen minutes ago, naturally overcorrected. Before Buck could regain his balance, she had pulled him even further forward, and they were both tumbling down the hill. 

So much for a cute, COVID-safe date.

—————————————————————————

 _So much for a cute, COVID-safe date, I'm guessing?_ Eddie texted Buck as he walked up to the entrance of the hospital. Leave it to Buck to actually go to the trouble of planning a pandemic-friendly outing, and still somehow score himself a trip to the emergency room. And leave it to Buck to ask for a ride home from the hospital, provide no details on why he needed one, and then not respond to any of Eddie’s follow-up texts. Forcing Eddie to spend the whole drive wondering if Buck was dead or alive. Eddie was just about to put on his mask and walk through the doors when he heard a familiar voice call out his name. 

“Eddie?” Buck was sitting against the wall of the hospital about 15 feet from the entrance. He looked miserable. His clothes were rumpled and dirty, and fresh scratches dotted his face and arms. But he was definitely alive. Which meant Eddie could breathe again. “I kinda didn’t think you’d come.”

“Of course I came. Do you not check your phone?” Eddie approached Buck, watching as he pulled out his phone to look at his missed messages. Eddie had lost track of how many texts he’d sent Buck since he’d casually dropped his location as the goddamn ER. 

“Sorry. I was moping.” Buck muttered, returning his phone to his pocket.

“Clearly.” Eddie took a seat next to Buck. Damn, he was getting old. Sitting on the ground wasn’t as easy as it used to be. He looked over at Buck, who was staring intently at a loose thread on his trousers as he picked at it. “I’m sorry about yesterday. The date went awful. I was… moping.”

“Clearly.”

Eddie smiled at the ground. Asshole. “Well, I’m here now. If you need me, I’m here.” He noticed Buck’s thumb was wrapped in medical tape. Before Friday, he wouldn’t have thought twice about reaching out and gently grabbing Buck’s hand to look it over, but now… Well, he did it anyway. But he thought twice about it. “Sprained thumb? What the hell even happened?” 

“I happened.” Buck leaned his head against the wall. “I almost got my date killed. Roller skating incident. I mean, she’ll be fine. The worst of it is an ulnar fracture, and her sister’s here with her now. But I doubt a second date is in the cards.” 

Lacking an excuse to keep a hold of Buck’s hand, Eddie let go. His hand came to rest against Eddie’s leg, and neither of them made any attempt to move it. If Eddie’s brain-static hadn’t been cured already, he was sure it would be going crazy right now.

“I don’t know, man. Maybe I’m just not meant for romance.” 

Eddie scoffed. Preaching to the choir did not _begin_ to describe the situation. “I hear you. I swear, —

—————————————————————————

“It’s like I’m jinxed,” Eddie continued, at the same time that Buck said, “It’s like I’m cursed.”

They looked at each other, each seeing his own small smile mirrored in the other’s face. After the shit they had put each other through that week, still, here they were. Leaning against the outside of a hospital. Together. Always together, in the end. In that moment, the same thought rang through both of their minds simultaneously, loud and clear and undeniable as a damn bell. 

_Well, shit. I guess I really am in love with this idiot._

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! <3 If you want, you can follow me on Tumblr @maddiebuckettebuckley!


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